Smaugan
Smaugan (溶岩龍スマウガン Lava Dragon Smaugan), better known as the Flame Dragon, is the boss of the Ice and Magma Caverns. Guarding the Devil Deity of Immorality Statue, he resides in the section of the Caverns known as the Hall of the Flame Dragon. He is one of the largest characters in the game, giving him an advantage when fighting him from ground level. Though a large Dragon, Smaugan is not a Dragon Deity like the Dark Dragon, as his bones and fangs are not metallic like the Dragon Deities are, but he is still a powerful Dragon and Fiend. Appearance Depicted as a large Golden Dragon, with four limbs, a long neck, frills and a set of wings. Smaugan is a Western Dragon of European culture. Abilities and Powers Flame Breath: Smaugan will breath out a steady stream of flames like a flamethrower sweeping from side to side. Fireball: Part of his fire breathing ability to is to spit fireballs, this is smaller than his flame breath but has a farther range as it's a projectile attack. Dragon Snap: A devastating attack due to the high amount of damage it does, Smaugan will quickly snap at his enemies with his deadly jaws. His jaws are large enough to easily devour a human in just one bite. Flame Flap: When Smaugan flaps his wings, a wall of fire blasts out from his wings in all directions, making it hard to dodge. Heat Resistant: As the Flame Dragon, he is most comfortable in extreme high temperatures, usually slumbering in a pool of magma. History Ninja Gaiden: Smaugan sleeps in the Magma Caverns underneath Vigoor, guarding his prized Deity Statue of the Devil. During the Dark Dragon Blade Incident, Ryu Hayabusa found himself in these Caverns, after solving many puzzles and slaying many enemies, Ryu found two gems of Fire and Ice, using these he placed these on a large door opening his way into the Hall of the Flame Dragon. In the middle of the room a pool of magma and in front of him was a Statue of the Devil, Deity of Immorality. After Ryu looted the Statue, the enraged flame dragon, Smaugan, emerged from the pool of lava. Ryu fought Smaugan on two levels, from the ground and from a higher platform, where they exchanged blows of flames attacks, attempts at devouring Ryu and slashes Smaugan's head. In the end Ryu slayed Smaugan, however unknown to Ryu at the time Smaugan possessed a piece of the Dark Dragon, in the form a magical Stone of Fire, and it was only a matter of time before Smaugan would be resurrected by the powers of the Dark Dragon. Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword: 6 months later, while on a quest to rescue Momiji and prevent the resurrection of the Dark Dragon, Ryu once again encountered Smaugan the Flame Dragon in his magma cavern and a long hard fought battle ensued. Once again, Ryu slayed Smaugan, however this time Ryu retrieved the Dark Dragon Stone of Fire from Smaugan. Unlike the Dark Dragonstones used to resurrect the Monastery, Paz Zuu, Doku and empower Obaba, the Dark Dragonstone of Fire was not in possession of the Fiends, as Ishtaros cleverly manipulated Ryu to gather all the Dark Dragonstones for her. Ryu would later encounter Smaugan's Ice counterpart. Strategy *Attack recognition by memorizing movement patterns is the key to beating Smaugan. *Smaugan can be fought either from ground level or from the higher platform that evens out the size difference. The higher platform can be reached by striking switches on the floor; sometimes Smaugan will also trigger these switches when he roars. *His head is the only part of his body that his attack-able, and after a few attacks he will leave his head open for you to strike. After striking him enough times, his head will drop to the ground or platform, making it a good time to run up and get in some free hits. *Fireball attacks can easily be dodged by rolling out of the way, and when he uses his Flame Breath roll jump out of the way. To dodge the wall of fire when he flaps his wings, roll just when it's about to hit you, you won't get hurt if timed correctly because of the invincible frame from dodging. *He will do a small telegraph to signal a command grab, which will take a huge chunk out of your health, and even more so if you don't jump out in time by mashing buttons on your controller. *Overall he is a casual gamer friendly boss (God of War style boss), and most players usually find they can defeat him during their first try, also considered a favorite boss for an easy no hit performance. Trivia * In Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword, Smaugan has an Ice Dragon counterpart. * Smaugan parallels with Smaug from The Hobbit, a large dragon similar not only in name but also in appearance and also golden in color. They both symbolize the immorality of greed and are enraged when a treasure is stolen from their lair by the protagonist of the story, in this case Ryu Hayabusa stealing the devil statue coincides with Bilbo Baggins stealing Smaug's golden cup. Category:Characters Category:Enemies Category:Fiends Category:Dragons Category:Boss Battles Category:Ninja Gaiden Characters Category:Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword Characters Category:Ninja Gaiden Boss Battles Category:Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword Boss Battles Category:Deceased